How Jackson Hole clothing company Give’r goes retro

There was a phrase in the Canadian small town where Bubba Albrecht spent time while growing up. “Give’r.” It meant to get after it, do your best, be in the moment.

When Bubba and friends spent seven days kayaking to Northern Ontario, Canada in 2011, he made everyone a hat to commemorate the trip. It featured the phrase Give’r, along with an outline of the Tetons, representing an area where many, including Bubba lived.

After the trip, people regularly stopped him to ask where he got the hat, what the phrase meant and if there were more for sale.

After dozens of requests, Bubba and friends Carly Platt and Jed Mickle formed the Jackson Hole clothing company Give’r, and in March 2012 started selling t-shirts, hats and a pair of waterproof leather gloves with the logo branded on the outside.

They decided the clothing they designed would follow the name of their brand. It would be fun and playful, yet adventurous. It wouldn’t be a technical line, but a lifestyle brand.

“Our goal is to make comfortable yet fun clothing that people just like to wear,” Bubba said.

Give’r is high quality and reflects a mountain lifestyle that isn’t about higher, faster or better, but about having the most fun in whatever you’re doing.

That’s what Give’r means, Bubba said. It doesn’t mean you had the best day skiing the hardest line. It means you had fun doing it, whether it’s hucking a cliff or conquering groomers. It’s about committing yourself to an activity, whether it’s chopping wood or spending the afternoon fly fishing.

“It’s easy to lose sight of, but it’s ‘I’m going to try my best and whatever that ends up being is fine,’” Bubba said.

That emphasis on fun is apparent in the company’s designs. A hat features a buffalo pulling a skier. The Give’r Throwback Base Slayer features a skier in full 80s garb; it looks like a regular cotton t-shirt but is actually made of moisture-wicking synthetic material. And one of the company’s best-selling items is the, River Runner, a hands-free coozie worn around the neck. This ingenious accessory keeps your beverage cold and nearby, while freeing up your hands to man your fishing pole or paddle your canoe.

One of the company’s other best-selling items is the Give’r glove, which is sturdy, lined, leather and water-sealed. As a bonus, it’s branded with the owner’s initials.

The gloves also wear the Give’r logo, the same one Bubba created for that first hat for that kayak trip in Canada.

“I love the Tetons for their complexity, but that simplicity was just a beautiful thing,” Bubba said. And, it works perfectly with the simple one-word phrase, Give’r, an unassuming name that can mean so much.